


basiphobia

by quantum27



Series: a cup of good intentions (tron one shots) [7]
Category: Tron (Movies), Tron - All Media Types, Tron: Betrayal
Genre: Fear, Gen, Panic Attacks, Short One Shot, that one scene in betrayal when flynn crashes into a building, them again and by the time its over you forget its a fear, uhhh yknow those fears where you forget they are fears until you actually experience
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:40:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26653078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quantum27/pseuds/quantum27
Summary: Kevin Flynn isn’t afraid of heights, not really.
Series: a cup of good intentions (tron one shots) [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1872664
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	basiphobia

Here’s the thing. Kevin Flynn is not afraid of heights. He’s not. He has no problem with them, and that’s ok. In fact he’s fine in a helicopter, solar sailor, Recognizer-whatever. He’s good. Fine and Dandy. 

And while all of these things are true, there is one catch. Kevin Flynn is not afraid of heights. Kevin Flynn is terrified of falling. Even if he doesn't realize it. At least, not all the time. 

It’s not one of those fears that people have since childhood, the opposite in fact. All in all it’s a fairly recent development. Far too recent. It’d be easy to think that it formed right away after dangling from a Solar Sailor or jumping into the MCP’s beam. An instant fear. Sure they’re probably the causes of the fear, but they didn’t make the fear instantly appear. It ramps up slowly over time. The nightmares for example. 

Kevin Flynn’s nightmares didn’t use to be frequent. They’d only ever really appeared when he was too low on sleep. (Which...might be more often than he is willing to admit.) And then things changed when he got zapped into a computer. Nightmares became more consistent- _ derezzing programs, friends dying, gridbugs, and the color red _ \- whether he’d gotten enough sleep or not. And then slowly the dreams of falling started. 

Endless falling, never a speck of ground in sight, the air getting stolen from his lungs. Things really start changing then. It’s a slow change, really. Being mildly alarmed about missing a step on the stairs turns to making his hands shake. Going down in an elevator turns from childish amusement into heart palpitations. Small Moments. Really. Moments that are easy to forget about as soon as they’re gone. And yet he still rides the company helicopter (and  _ oh _ how the light lines make him ache for The Grid,) Solar Sailors, the Recos, light jets, whatever. 

Maybe it’s a little bit reckless, even if the fear isn’t at the forefront of his mind. Most often he feels no ill feelings because of it. When he does find his heart beating far too fast he’ll pass it off as excitement rather than fear. Afterall it never feels like fear afterwards.

Today in particular he’s riding on a new experiment. The idea had been simple- wind boarding. But Grid Style. It sounded fun. And it is. Until it  _ isn’t _ . 

He crashes into a building. And the surface beneath his feet is gone. His mantra of ‘yes’s (like an excited Bit, almost) turns to a scream of ‘no’s (also like a Bit, but less fun this time). Kevin Flynn is not afraid of heights. But the ground is so  _ far _ below, and he’s got nothing to hold onto.  _ Why _ didn’t he bring a wind chute?? He’d put it off ( _ wind chutes feel far too much like falling _ )- but now?? 

He’s going to die-if not from the impact, hypoxia was always an option- but then again oxygen wasn’t really a thing here-but then again, was it-programs breathe-sorta-and he- He is still falling. Down. Down.  _ Down. _ He needs. He can’t. Where- He-  _ STOP _

A rope-Rope- Rope- a  _ brilliant _ blue rope- He grabs it.

“Don’t worry! I’ve got you.”  **_Tron._ ** Of course. 

It’s easy to land then. There’s a slight recoil of the rope and he goes back up for a nano or two before landing on the ground. His breath is ragged, and a grin stretches wide across his face. It’s alright-the excitement is still there. Right? He teeters on his crouched position on the ground. 

“I heard reports of a crazy new invention on the Grid before I even saw the portal light up.”  _ Tron. _ Tron. Safe. Tron is safe. 

The security monitor puts a hand on his shoulder, and he feels safe, “Hello, Flynn.” It’s said somewhat softly, somewhat amused, and more than a little chastising. All in two words.

“Hi,” He breathes out, his grin looking far more like a scarecrow’s than a person’s, “And I was never in danger, Tron.” The security monitor glances to the still-smoking wreckage and then at his hands. Which are still slightly shaking. Huh. 

There’s a clear disapproval in the look. But Tron would be a hypocrite to point out to him to stop hiding it (which he’s not, really, in ten minutes he’ll forget the fear was ever there, right?). Plus there’s a crowd. Appearances mattered, they always,  _ always  _ mattered. Tron shakes his head slightly and then puts on his best ‘appease onlookers face’ before doing exactly that. 

He looks back towards the wreck of his latest invention, a hollow laugh bubbling from beneath his ribs escaping him. 

Kevin Flynn isn’t afraid of heights, not really. 

**Author's Note:**

> *wreckage proceeds to fall on them and they just continue their conversation because They're Cool* 
> 
> aaaah. i'd list an actual example of a fear like this but I,,,cannot because like. I forget 'em as soon as they're not happening.


End file.
